Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2011
Published In
Biological Theory
Abstract
Developmental biology is expanding into several new areas. One new area of study concerns the production of adult-onset phenotypes by exposure of the fetus or neonate to environmental agents. These agents include maternal nutrients, developmental modulators (endocrine disruptors), and maternal care. In all three cases, a major mechanism for the generation of the altered phenotype is chromatin modification. Nutrient conditions, developmental modulators, and even maternal care appear to alter DNA methylation and other associated changes in chromatin that regulate gene expression. This brings a new, under-appreciated, dimension of gene regulation into developmental biology, and it also demonstrates the poverty of the nature versus nurture framework for discussing phenotype production. Moreover, while such epigenetic mechanisms undermine genetic determinism, they add a layer of probabilistic biological causality for the maintenance of social inequalities.
Recommended Citation
Scott F. Gilbert.
(2011).
"Expanding The Temporal Dimensions Of Developmental Biology: The Role Of Environmental Agents In Establishing Adult-Onset Phenotypes".
Biological Theory.
Volume 6,
Issue 1.
65-72.
DOI: 10.1007/s13752-011-0008-0
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-biology/379
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This work is freely accessible courtesy of MIT Press with Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research and Springer Verlag.